NPR streaming Jason Lytle’s solo debut

There are maybe two ways to start this post. I could posit that the small, tight web of Jason Lytle spreads wide across my heroes of the indie music world. Or I could mention that 2000 was a big year for me in terms of musical discovery. Both lead me to the same point: I’m really quite excited about Lytle’s solo debut, Yours Truly, The Commuter.

No idea why/if this is worth mentioning, but I spent a good chunk of the late 90’s listening to little else but Phish, Miles Davis, Sonic Youth, and Pavement. I’d go months on end with only one record at a time, aside from whatever I would overhear by chance. 2000 rolled around, I had tired of Phish, Pavement broke up, and I got a summer job working in a small marketing department where new and yet-unreleased records were being sent to my boss on a near-daily basis, and most of them found their way to my cubicle. My tastes broadened dramatically, but I again found myself hooked on one record in particular: Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump (which, incidentally, was mixed by former Pavement drummer Gary Young, though long gone from Pavement by the new millennium).

Also that year (though I didn't know it then) Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle produced and played a little on a record for a little-known west coast band called Rodriguez. While that album itself is not all that notable, the subsequent breakup of Rodriguez led to rise of one particular member, M. Ward.

Fast forward a while. Grandaddy is no more, M. Ward rules if you ask me, and Jason Lytle adds his touch to a few tracks on Hold Time. Announcements are made about a solo record by Lytle, and the hype is high.

So, here it is, just about 9 years after Lytle changed my personal musical landscape, all that rambling for one little heads-up: the album will be out on May 19, but NPR has the early stream right here. On first listen, I am not disappointed.